Bird Goes for 47, while the Black Hole Chips in 20 & 10
Does Chuck Daly know his team, or what? It was pointed out to him before last night's game that Larry Bird was shooting like the second coming of Tom Henderson over the previous four games, to which the Detroit coach replied, "We have a way of always curing those ills when we come to town."
Bird, of course, responded with a season-high 47 points in the Celtics ' 132-124 victory.
Guess who was the first guard off the Celtics' bench. Sam Vincent, that's who. The Rook played 17 meaningful minutes, registering eight points and four assists, and he was on the floor during the best Boston spurt of the night, a 12-2 run that rescued the club from its biggest deficit, a 33-27 first-quarter state of affairs. "Sam showed well," appraised K.C. Jones. "He pushed the ball up the floor, ran the break well and he powered the pill (translation: he shot the ball) as if he were in the league four or five years." . . . One fallout of Vincent's time was that Jerry Sichting played a season-low nine minutes.
Isiah Thomas on the collision with Sichting that sent him out with 6:50 remaining in the first half, never to return: "I got tangled up with him and I bent my leg backwards." Asked if he were scared, he replied, "Yes. Very." . . . For the record, 12 of Bird's 17 field goals were jump shots of one kind or another. But there was only one real ICBM, a la '84-85.
The difference in game plans can be seen in the shot distribution. The Celtics' starting frontcourt took 46 of Boston's 87 shots, while Vinnie Johnson and John Long took 42 of Detroit's 96 . . . The Pistons have picked up ex-Boston College backup center Ron Crevier on waivers from Golden State, but he saw no action . . . Bill Walton had another good evening, scoring 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Whither Sly Williams? Said general manager Jan Volk, "When the procedure was initially done (on his hemorrhoids), they were talking five to seven days. The seven days are up, and he hasn't yet progressed to the point where he can play." The club will wait a little longer before deciding about a roster change, but if you're making book, assume that Sly is an unlikely candidate to spend Christmas as a Celtic.
The New York Mets have had, what, about 116 third basemen over the years? Now here come the Pistons with their own tale of woe. Oh, their kingdom for a power forward.
"We can't handle (Kevin) McHale and the other big forwards in the league," said Daly before last night's game. "Other teams get it inside and force us to double down. Then they swing it to the open man outside for a jump shot. But when we get the ball, we don't have that kind of post play."
It has been a Detroit problem for years. The club believed it had an answer last year when it acquired Dan Roundfield from Atlanta for Cliff Levingston and the rights to Antoine Carr. But Roundfield went south on them when he was needed most.
They tried again this past summer by obtaining legendary elbow-tosser Ricky Mahorn from Washington in exchange for Roundfield. But Mahorn has proven himself unable to hold the starting job. Daly next turned to Earl Cureton, but after an early glimmer or two in the pan, he, too, turned out to be a case of Fool's Gold. So what did Daly do? What else? He turned to Kent Benson.
And guess what? Since Benson has started, the Pistons are 4-1. "We did the same thing two years ago and we went off on a nice streak," recalled Daly. "One thing about Benson: He may not be spectacular, but he's stable."
Daly was hoping the sight of Benson wouldn't get McHale too aroused. It was Benson whom McHale tormented for more than 30 of his 56 points in that memorable performance last March. "McHale starting is a problem," Daly said.
McHale wound up with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
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